The Past Comes Back to Bite
by littlemissfiesty
Summary: When she thinks she can run from it all, all the pain, fear, and suffering she dealt with and looks forward to a better and brighter future, but it comes quick to show that the past eventually catches up and secrets are revealed...Will the gang be able to help her? Or bring them down with her?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_(Okay so the story takes place when the gang meets my OC, but that's two years before the book takes place, which means all the characters are two years younger. Steve being 15, Sodapop, Johnny, and my OC being 14, Ponyboy being 12, Two-bit and Dally being 16, and Darry being 18. And I know that the Curtis's parents die 'bout a couple months before the book takes place or somewhere around that time-it was never clearly stated in the book and everyone assumes that-but in my story, it happens about three months before the gang meets my OC, which I think is fine since Darry's old enough to take custody of his brother, so that's exactly how I want it. So sorry that this is taking a long time I just wanted to make it clear so no one was confused. And just a heads up it might be held back two years for a couple of chapters, I'm hoping only 4-5, but I don't know how long it will be. And lastly, I __**do not **__own any of the Outsiders. Now read, review, and enjoy!)_

Sodapop's POV

I looked at the clock on the wall for the fifth time, hoping the time will speed up so I can go! It's Tuesday, and I'm working at the DX. Today I have to close up, and since it's a Tuesday during Spring Break, it's been a slow day.

Technically, I'm only supposed to work part-time since I'm 14 going on 15, but since its Spring break, boss is letting my work full-time, until I get offa break. Now you might be wondering why I'm working at such a young age. Well, it's because I gotta help my brother Darry with the bills to support him and my younger brother Ponyboy.

When I have breaks from school I work full-time, but during school, I work part-time. Our parents….died…about three months ago, so Darry took custody of us. I want to drop out of high school, but Darry's making me finish up freshman year 'til I drop out. Well, I still don't like to think about my parent's death, so I just started thinking about what happened on earlier that day.

_Flashback_

_It was about two hours before I had to close up. Normally, my friend Steve would be closing with me, but for some weird reason, he got here early, so now boss' letting him out early. It was really slow today, only a couple of people came in, one of them needing fixing on his car, which Steve finished under an hour. So Steve is back behind the counter with me._

_We were looking at the new cars magazine when the bell above the door rang and someone came running in. We both looked up to see a girl. WOW. As I took a closer look, my breath caught in my throat._

_She was gorgeous. She had light brown, thick wavy hair, like those, those, oh what do they call it? Oh yeah! Beach waves. She had beach wave wavy hair that reached the middle of her back, with bangs that swept to the right. She had perfect porcelain skin with a slight tan._

_And her eyes, God her eyes. Her eyes were like an emerald forest green with light specks of grey in them. You could tell she's a greaser from the way she dressed. She had faded jean shorts, a black shirt, a black biker's leather jacket, and black combat boots._

_Strangely, for a greaser girl, she wasn't wearing any make-up. Usually greasy girls have make-up caked on their face. It's like she wasn't trying to be pretty, but it wasn't working the slightest bit. She looked my age too._

_She had one hand in her jacket while she looked outside, like she was looking for someone. Suddenly, her eyes went wide and she bolted straight towards us, jumped the counter, and slid straight down between me and Steve._

_Me and Steve looked at each other, and then looked down at the girl. Then Steve spoke up._

"_Um, what the hell do you think you're doing?" She looked up at us as if seeing us for the first time._

"_Look, I just need to hide for a bit, then I can leave, but for now, I have to stay here." She said._

"_Why? Running from the fuzz?"_

"_Pff, I wish, but no. I'm running from a couple of soc's."_

"_Why?" I asked._

"_I'll explain later but-" She was cut off by the sound of the bell ringing. She tensed up a bit._

"_Pretend ya'll never saw me." She whispered. Me and Steve silently nodded our heads and looked down at the magazine. I heard footsteps coming our way, and I looked up shortly after Steve did. There were three soc's._

_One had brown hair and grey eyes. He was taller than the others. The one next to him had pale blue eyes and short blonde hair. And the shortest one had brown hair and blue eyes. They were all wearing the usual soc get up, and were all panting slightly out of breath. Guess they've been chasing this girl for a while now._

_The one with blonde hair spoke up._

"_Either of you greasers seen a girl run by here?" He said with a snarl._

"_No," Steve replied, "and even if we did who's to say we'd even tell you filthy soc's."_

"_Watch it grease." The blonde one said._

"_Shit…" The tall one muttered, and kicked the counter, clearly angry. He started walking away, his buddies following, but stopped and turned his head towards us._

"_Filthy greaser's…" He muttered, and they walked out. Once they left, the girl shot up, pushing me and Steve slightly from it, and jumped the counter again and started walking away._

"_Hey!" Steve shouted. The girl turned on her heels to look at us._

"_Yes can I help you?"_

"_Explain."Steve said simply and she sighed._

"_Look Steve I-"_

"_Whoa wait, how the hell do ya know my name?" Steve cut her off. She rolled her eyes, amused._

"_It says your name on your shirt." Steve looked at his shirt at his name stitched in red cursive letters._

"_Right." Steve said, rubbing the back of his neck. Then she turned to me._

"_And our Sodapop…nice name by the way." She smiled. I smiled back. Steve then cleared his throat, getting her attention._

"_Again, care to explain why they were after you?" She rolled her eyes again._

"_Guess they just don't like it when people steal from them." She said cooly. That's when Steve started laughing._

"_Yeah right, girls can't steal" He said and laughed again._

"_Then I guses ya don't want your wallet back do ya?" She said, holding up a worn brown leather wallet. Steve then glared at her._

"_No fucking way…" He muttered, patting his pockets looking for his wallet. When he didn't find it, he looked back at her shocked, and somewhat impressed._

"_The hell? Gimme my wallet back!" She laughed and tossed him his wallet._

"_So what did ya steal from them anyways?" I asked. She reached into her pocket and pulled something out._

"_Oh nothing but these." And raised her hand for us to see two watches and a wallet._

"_Damn those look mighty expensive!" Steve grinned._

"_There soc's of course there expensive. And this wallet has 'bout two hundred bucks in it."_

"_No way!" I shouted._

"_Yes way. Now if ya don't mind I have to go." She put the objects back into her pocket and started walking away. When she reached the door, I couldn't help but call her._

"_Hey wait!" She turned around, with her hand on the door._

"_Can ya at least tell us your name since ya know ours?" I asked. She smirked at us and winked and left._

"_Damn," Steve said, "That's one tuff broad."_

_End of Flashback_

Ever since she left, I haven't stopped thinking 'bout her, and me and Steve ended up talking 'bout her 'til he had to leave. I looked up at the clock again. 6:51. I have nine minutes 'til I'm outta here! I started dozing off again. I kept thinking 'bout that girl.

I wish she would have told me and Steve her name. But life has a funny way of screwing with your mind. Oh well. I looked at the magazine again 'til it was 7. I quickly turned off the lights, and locked the door and heads home.

It was raining. Hard. And I wanted to hurry up and get home. Me and Steve decided to tell the gang 'bout that girl and I didn't want to miss it. I then took a short cut down an alley. It started raining harder, if that was even possible.

It almost hurt when I rain drop pelted on my skin. I started speeding up when I stopped at the sudden scream. I looked around, trying to see where it came from when I heard the roaring of laughter. I followed the sound and peeked my head into the alley, but quickly hid myself.

No no no, I did NOT just see that. I looked again and quickly looked away and confirmed it. It was that girl from earlier, with the three soc's 'round her. Her clothes were off and thrown to the side and the only thing she had on was the tall soc's shirt, reaching to the middle of her thigh. And her knuckles were a bit scraped up and bruised.

She looked beaten up with bruises covering her body. She had a black eye on her right eye, and a deep cut under her left eye accompanied with a bruise, and had a busted lip. In all, she looked terrible. The color was drained from her face, her hair a tangled mess and wet from the rain.

And it looked like she was about to black out any second. The soc's were shoving her around to each other, each kissing her and sucking on her neck and chest, then shoving her to someone else. The guys were soaking wet from the rain, and all of their pants zippers were down.

I was furious. How could they do that to her? She's just a girl! So what if he stole from them, it doesn't give them the right to do that to her! Not wasting another second, I ran towards them and rammed the short one down and he fell to the ground and hit his head and passed out.

The other two were too shocked to do anything, and it was the short one's turn to catch her, so I caught her and set her down where she instantly curled into a ball. I now noticed how badly she was shaking, but I didn't have time to think about it, when the blonde one tackled me.

He was taller than the short one, but still smaller than me, so it was easy for me to flip him over and start slugging him. The tall one ripped me offa him and punched me in the jaw. I quickly recovered and wheeled around and socked him in the nose, satisfied with the crack that came with it.

He fell backwards and the blonde one got up and tried to tackle me, but I shoved him to the ground. I then jumped on him and started slugging him 'til he went limp. I knew he wasn't dead, but he would be out for a little while. I got back up in time for the tall soc to tackle me to the ground.

He sat on my chest and slugged me a couple times, before I kicked him offa me. I quickly got up and kicked him in the head, and he too blacked out. I quickly caught my breath and ran over to the girl. I kneeled down beside her and picked her up.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Soda?" Her voice cracked.

"Yeah, I'm right here, they ain't gonna hurt you no more."

"I-it hurts…"

"Where?"

"Everywhere…" Then she blacked out. I quickly made my way over to the pile of clothes, but the jacket was the only thing that wasn't torn up and dirty. I quickly grabbed it, wrapped the girl in it and ran home.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the outsiders!**

*Still two years ago*

Sodapop's POV

I ran as fast as I can, felling the girl's head bob side to side on my chest. Once I reached my house, it took a couple of tries to kick the gate open, since the rain was making it hard to see and the gate slippery. Once it finally opened, I ran up the steps and stoop on the porch.

There was no way I was going to be able to kick the door open while carrying the girl in my arms. I then started kicking the door.

"Hey guys open up!" It got quiet inside.

"Who is it?" I heard Two-bit say in a sing-song voice. The others laughed. Great. The rest of the gang was here.

"Come on guys this is serious open the damn door!"I shouted, getting angry. It got quiet again. Then I heard footsteps and the door opened.

"Soda what's-" Darry asked, and froze when he saw the girl in my arms.

"Move." I said, and pushed my way past him and headed straight for my old room. Ever since mom and dad died, Pony's been having nightmares, so I sleep with him instead of my room. I quickly laid her down as the gang came into the room.

"Soda who's that?" Pony asked. I looked at Steve.

"Steve, do you remember her?" I asked, and everyone's heads turned to him. Steve just stared at the girl, trying to remember, when his face lit up with recognition, then fell. He looked back up to me.

"They got to her didn't they?" He asked. I nodded and he swore.

"Okay what the hell is going on and who the hell is that?" Dally asked annoyed. As I went to get the first aid kit, Steve told everyone 'bout what happened earlier at the DX and why the soc's were after her. I came back in time for me to finish what happened after Steve left, reaching up to me coming back here.

"So that's why you look busted up?" Darry asked, taking the first aid kit away from me and started cleaning her wounds.

"Yea."

"Damn, I didn't think the soc's would jump a girl." Two-bit said.

"Hey Soda, why is she only in a shirt and a jacket?" Darry asked.

"When I found her, all of her clothes were ripped off and thrown to the side, that jacket was the only thing not too beat up, and the shirt she's wearing belonged to one of the soc's."

"Damn." Darry muttered, "Soda, I think she was raped."

"What!? Why would you think that?" I nearly shouted.

"Think about it, her clothes were ripped off, she's wearing one of the soc's shirts, and she's bleeding from in between her legs." That's when we all noticed the blood coming from somewhere in between her legs.

"Soda, I don't like the idea as much as you do, but I have to admit I think Darry's right." Steve said and I sighed.

"What's her name?" Two-bit asked.

"I don't know." Me and Steve said at the same time.

"How could ya not know her name?" Dally asked.

"She didn't tell us!" Steve said. Dallas just rolled his eyes. After that, we just watched Darry fix her up. When Darry noticed the silence, he looked up at us to see us staring at him.

"Could you guys go outside while I work on her? It's really creepy the way you're watching me." He said.

"Oh you know you love it Superman." Two-bit laughed, and we walked out and sat in the living room. About ten minutes later, Darry walked out and sat in the arm chair.

"So? How's she doing?" Steve asked.

"I did the best I could without undressing her; I just have to wait 'til she wakes up, but even after that I still don't think she'll be comfortable with me finishing fixing her up. The rest is sort of a girls department to help her."

"How 'bout I get my mom to fix her up?" Two-bit asked, then looked around confused at everyone's shocked faces.

"What? Do I have something stuck in my teeth?"

"No it's just that….that was actually a smart idea." Soda said.

"Hey!" Two-bit said, putting a hand to his heart and a pout on his face, "That hurt! I can be smart if I want to!"

"Yeah right." Dallas said, and Two-bit glared at him.

"Alright Two-bit, we'll get your mom to help once she wakes up." Two-bit nodded. Darry went to make dinner and the rest of the evening was quite.

*Three days later*

Me and the gang where in the living room watching TV. It was 'bout mid-day and we were just hanging out. The girl hasn't woken up yet and we're all getting antsy. That's when a scream ripped me from my thoughts. We all shot up and ran to where the screams where coming from.

They led us to my old room. Darry opened the door and we stepped into the room to find the girl screaming, thrashing under the blankets. Darry raced to the bed and started shaking the girl.

"Hey! Come on now wake up!" He was shaking her but the girl didn't wake up. She just fought back harder, even ended up punching him in the jaw. Under normal circumstances me and the gang would've laughed, but this was serious and we knew not to laugh.

He started shaking her harder.

"Wake up!" He shouted and the girl's eyes flew open. She was trembling and as if she couldn't breathe.

"W-who are you?" She asked, a bit scared. Her voice was raspy as she talked. She then looked at the rest of us, and her eyes landed on me and Steve. She then relaxed.

"Hey Soda, hey Steve." We grinned.

"Hey yourself, how ya doin'?" Steve asked, as Darry let her go and she sat up, biting her lip to keep from screaming.

"Hey now take it easy." Darry said, helping her sit up. When she was finally got comfortable, she leaned her back against the wall and took a shaky breath.

"I've been worse."

"What? How could you of possibly been worse?" Two-bit asked, and she winced. When Darry saw her wince, he smacked Two-bit upside the head.

"Two-bit do us all a favor and keep your trap shut." Darry said. We all chuckled and even the girl cracked a grin.

"Oh come on I know ya'll were thinking it." Two-bit said, and the girl's face fell.

"Knock it of Two-bit." I said.

"Its okay, I don't mind, I just don't want to talk about it. Look, I'm fine, see?" The girl said, and tried to stand up, but winced, trying to cover the pained expression on her face, squeezing her eyes shut and biting her lip.

"Oh no you're not," Darry said, as he eased her back into bed, "You're staying here 'til ya get better. Now may I ask what your name is?" She smirked.

"You first." Darry just smiled.

"I'm Darry, and this is Two-bit, Dally, Johnny, Ponyboy, and you already know Soda and Steve." He said, pointing to each of us. She looked at me and Steve.

"Indeed I do. My names Sam." She said.

"Well it's nice to meet you Sam, and just to let you know I've cleaned you p as much as I can, the rest is sort of a girls job, so were gonna call someone and have them finish tending to you okay?"Darry said. Sam smiled.

"Sure, and thanks for everything." Darry smiled back.

"No problem." And with that, he ushered everyone out. I was about to leave when Sam grabbed my hand.

"Stay for a second." She said. I smiled and closed the door.

"What do ya need?" I asked.

"Well first, which girl or ya gonna have fix me?"

"Were gonna have Two-bit's mom come in."

"What about your mom?" My face fell and she instantly noticed.

"Soda what's wrong?"

"My momma's dead, along with my old man." Her face fell too.

"Oh Soda I'm so sorry, I shouldn't of asked."

"No its okay, you didn't know."

"Mind me asking how they died?" I paused for a second, and spoke.

"They died in a car crash, killed 'em instantly."

"Again, I'm sorry, but I'm guessing the last thing you want right now is sympathy, am I right?" I looked up at her surprised. Usually when someone dies, they give the family members sympathy and pity, but it doesn't help. Even makes it worse a bit.

"H-how'd you-"

"I've been there too." Was all she said and grabbed my hand and gave it a light reassuring squeeze.

"Look, the reason I wanted you to stay back was so that I can say thanks, for saving me. I'd probably be dead if you hadn't shown up." I gave her a small smile.

"Hey don't worry about it, it was nothing."

"Nothing? You took on three big soc's just to save some girl you barely knew! Now that to me is not nothing." And she gave me a big smile, which I returned.

"Look really it was no big-"

"Just except the damn apology already." She said, and my smile got bigger.

"Your welcome."

"See? Now was that so hard to say?" She laughed, and I laughed with her. There was a knock at the door, and Two-bit's head poked through the door.

"My momma's here to fix ya up Sammy."

"Alright. "She said, and Two-bit left. Sam looked at me.

"C'mere." She said. I got closer and she wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in the crook of my neck.

"I meant it when I said it Sodapop. Thank you." She whispered. I returned the hug.

"You're welcome Sam." We held each other for a bit longer and then we let go. I walked out the door to see Two-bit's mom standing in the hallway.

"You can go in now." I said. She smiled at me.

"Thanks Soda." And she walked into the room and closed the door.

Sam's POV

When me and Soda let go, he walked out the door. I heard some talking in the hallway, and then a woman in about her early thirties walked in. She had shoulder length straight brown hair with a reddish tint to it. Her eyes were an amazing shade of grey and she looked a bit taller than me.

In all, she was beautiful. And I can see the resemblance between her and Two-bit. They had the same beautiful grey eyes and cheek bones and nose, but Two-bit's hair was more of a rusty colored red while his mom's was browner.

She sat at the edge of the bed and smiled at me.

"Hello, I'm Ms. Matthews, but you can call me Sarah." I smiled back at her. She already seemed so nice and caring.

"Hi. I'm Sam."

"So I've heard," She said jokingly, and took out something from her purse, "Now the boys gave me this to give to you, but honestly, if I had known that ou didn't have any clothes, I would've brought you some." She finished, handing me a pair of grey sweat pants, black boxers, and a black t-shirt.

"It's okay, I don't mind." I said, taking them from her and putting them to the side.

"Now would you mind taking off that shirt? Just so I can help clean up your wounds." I felt a bit embarrassed, because if I took off the shirt, I'd be naked, but something about her made me feel comfortable with it and not embarrassed. Like I had nothing to worry about and that I can trust her.

Slowly and cautiously, trying not to hurt myself, I slip my shirt off and I here Sarah gasp, looking over my body.

"Oh God…" She mutters, and I look down at myself. I hadn't realized I looked this bad. My bady was covered with sickly blacks, blues, purples and greens from all of the bruises, and red from the dried blood coming from the cuts as well.

I also had a bunch of hickeys running along my collar bone and some on my neck and cuts shaped in the form of someone's teeth. I didn't realize they bit me so hard. I also had a lot of dry blood covering my inner thighs and my…um…private part.

I had bruises and cuts along my legs and arms as well, but Darry took care of those. He also took care of my face.

"I-I'll be right back." She said, and quickly left the room, careful not to open the door to wide. Not a minute later, she came back with a towel.

"Sorry it's so short, but with only boys in the house, they don't really need long towels." She said, handing me a towel. _It_ _can't be that short._ I thought. I stood up, with help from Sarah, and wrapped it around my body. _Oh, I guess it is._ I thought, seeing as how it just passed my butt.

"I was thinking that we should bet you cleaned up first." She smiled at me, and I smiled back and nodded. She carefully wrapped an arm around my waist, and I did the same, leaning on her as we made it to the bathroom. Thankfully, none of the guys saw.

She then sat me down on the toilet, turned on the water in the tub, and went to the room to grab the clothes the buys provided me. She set the clothes on the sink, and turned off the water, seeing as how it had filed up almost to the top.

I took off my towel and she helped me into the tub. Once I had finally sat down and stretched out my legs, Sarah rolled up her black pants up to her knees, and stood in the tub. She then sat on the edge of the tub, and reached for the bar of soap and started cleaning my body.

Once all of the blood and dirt were off my body, she reached the shampoo and poured some on top of my head, and started scrubbing my head, cleaning it. Normally I would of declined of her doing this, but I was grateful, and I was sore and tired and it hurt to raise my arms above my head.

I guess she knew that, since she was cleaning me. When she was done scrubbing my head, she leaned me back under the faucet in the tub, and turned it on again, washing out all of the shampoo. Once it was all out, she reached into her purse and took out a bottle.

I read the label, and sent her an amused look.

"What? I knew the boys wouldn't have conditioner and I'm pretty sure you don't want your hair to smell like guy."She said, and I laughed. She smiled at me.

"I didn't think so." She said with a laugh and poured some into her hand and began to lather it into my hair. I then smelled the familiar scent of strawberries and mint. I smiled. This is the same sent that my shampoo has.

Sarah noticed me smiling and smiled back. Once she rinsed out the conditioner, she drained the water by pulling the plug and helped me sit up. First, she wrapped my hair in a towel and wrapped me up to dry off.

Once I was dry she helped me put lotion on, and then started cleaning the cuts on my body-the ones Darry couldn't get. We were enveloped in a comfortable silence, me hissing and moaning from time to time, until she broke the silence.

"So you want to tell me how you met the boys?" I smiled and explained everything that happened starting from when I entered the gas station to now. By the time I finished she finished cleaning my wounds and wrapping gauze and tape over my breasts, ribs, and wrists. She smiled at me.

"Well that's an interesting story," She then glanced at my private part and looked back up to me, "Sweetie, I know you don't want to talk about it, but I need to ask, were you raped?" It was more of a statement than a question.

I nodded yes and she pulled me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry honey." And she held on for a couple more seconds, then let go. She grabbed the clothes then handed them to me.

"Darrel told me that you'll be staying here 'til you get better, but don't forget my home is always open. It was nice meeting you Sam, but I'm afraid I have to get going now." I smiled, then got up and hugged her.

"Thank you Sarah."

"Any time sweetie." And with that, she left. I stood there for a moment, then put the clothes on that they gave me. The sweat pants and boxers were a tad baggy, but I didn't mind, although the shirt was three sizes two big and hung at mid-thigh, maybe even a little lower.

But it was better than wearing that soc's shirt. I took the towel off my head, my hair half dry now. I splashed cold water on my face and walked out.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Outsiders! Sadly….**

*Still two years ago*

Two-bit's mom came into the room and explained to us that she was indeed raped by the soc's, but told us not to mention it to her, and left. About five minutes after Two-bit's momma left, Sam walked into the living room. Me and Steve were sitting on one couch while Pony, Two-bit and Dally sat on the other, Johnny was on the floor and Darry was in the rocking chair.

I noticed that her hair was still a bit wet, and the band aid Darry had put on her over the cut under her left eye was beginning to come off. The sweat pants looked okay on her, but the shirt just about swallowed her. It reached her mid-thigh, but I thought she looked cute like that.

She came over and sat in between me and Steve, the painful expression and grunt from Sam catching everyone's attention. Dally looked at her, studying her.

"Hey guys, thanks for taking care of me and fixin' me up and all." Sam said.

"No problem doll." Two-bit winked at and she playfully glared at him and stuck her tongue out at him like a child.

"Don't be calling me 'doll' if ya know what's best for ya." Two-bit smiled. All of a sudden Dally gasped and got up.

"Hey wait a minute, I remember you!" Dally said, getting angry. Sam looked confused for a bit then her eyes widened and she too stood up wincing.

"Okay look I'm sorry but-"

"Oh you're sorry?! It's a little late for sorry's _doll_!" Dally said. Then Sam got angry.

"Look here Dallas; don't go doing something you'll soon regret-"

"Regret? The only thing I regret is falling for your damn trick!" He nearly shouted, advancing towards her. By now the rest of the gang, and me, were standing. When Dally swung at her head, she dodged and quickly hid behind me, using me as a shield.

"Get out of the way Curtis!" He screamed at me, reaching behind me, but Sam shoved me to the side, making Dally miss. I raised my arms in front of me blocking him even more. Darry came over and tried to hold back Dallas.

"Calm down Dallas! What the hell is going on?" Darry shouted, but Dally ignored, fighting harder to get to Sam.

"Dallas I swear if you don't lay off imma get my gang on you again!" She screamed, balling my shirt in her fists. That seemed to have some affect on him because he stopped fighting against Darry.

"Alright, sit down and explain to us what the hell is going on between you two." Darry said, and we all sat down, Sam back in between me and Steve. We looked back and forth between Dally and Sam. Sam was looking at the floor while Dally was glaring daggers at her.

"Well?" Darry asked. Sam looked up.

"Dally's just mad at me 'cause I stole from him." Two-bit snickered.

"Dallas, you let a _girl_ steal from you?" Dally only responded in punching him in the shoulder, sending him to the floor.

"OW!"

"Hey! The little broad seduced me and took off running with my wallet!" Dally said, "Too bad she can't fight her own fights."

"Hey, it ain't my fault you came looking for me the next day!" Sam defended.

"What do ya mean 'can't fight her own fights'?" Johnny asked.

"When my gang saw Dally screaming at me, they came over and beat the shit outta him." She smirked.

"It was six against one how is that fair?!" Dally screamed. Sam just rolled her eyes.

"You're in a gang?" Darry asked, and Sam nodded, "Would you care to tell us 'bout them?"

"_Yeah_ Sam tell everyone 'bout your _lovely_ gang." Dallas said. She glared at him.

"Well, I'm part the gang called the Tiber Street Tigers-"

"YOU'RE PART OF THE TIBER STREET TIGERS?!" Steve and Two-bit asked excitedly, jumping from where they were sitting, and when Sam said yea, they went on hollering and whooping.

The Tiber Street Tigers where the toughest gang in Tulsa. They were all mean and tough. They all had a police record that made Dally look innocent. Not even the soc's wanted to mess with them. There isn't a part of Tulsa you could go without hearing 'bout them.

Their like at the top of the food chain when it comes to greasers, everyone has heard of them. Their top dog.

"As I was saying, I'm part of the Tiber Street Tigers. There are eight of us. Six guys, two girls-"

"There's another chick in the gang?" Two-bit asked.

"Yes, and If ya would let me finish I'll explain why." She said.

"Alright alright, sorry, continue." Two-bit said, motioning to continue.

"The leader of the gang is David, whose nineteen. Then it's his sister Valerie, whose fourteen, like me. Next is Leo and Jack, who're fifteen, then Brandon and Jake who are sixteen, and then Will, whose eighteen."

"The leader has a sister?" Steve asked.

"Yea I just said that." She said sarcastically.

"So Sam how'd you meet the Tiber Street Tigers?" Darry asked. Her face fell a bit.

"It was a year after I ran away from home, I was eleven and had adapted to living on the streets and learned how to steal and fight. One day I ended up stealing from David himself, and since he's a stealer too, he knew the instant I took his wallet. His gang cornered me at the end of an alley way and I ended up kicking Leo in the balls and flipping over Jake. But then David grabbed hold of me and stared at me for a second. Then he smiled at me. He then told me that I had some guts buy stealing from him and taking out two of his guys. He then took me to their hideout and I became part of the gang. David's been like an older brother too me and the others are like family to me." She finished, looking upset. Steve put an arm around her.

"Hey c'mon now don't be upset that was one hell of a story." Steve said. Everyone cracked a grin and I put my arm around her too.

"Yea come on don't be upset." She looked at both of us and smiled.

"Thanks guys."

"Sam, do you think your gang would be worried about you?"

"Depends, how long have I been out?"

"Three days."

"THREE DAYS?!" She shouted, and jumped up, "They'll think I'm in the slammer or somethin'. Darry you guys got a phone?" Darry pointed to the phone on the wall next to him.

"Thanks!" And she quickly dialed a number and waited. It was oddly loud enough for us to hear.

"_Hello?"_

"Leo?"

"_Yea?"_

"It's me Sam." There was a pause on the other line.

"_What the hell Sam? Where the fuck have you been? Me and the gang have been looking for you everywhere and were worried sick! Especially David!"_

"I'm fine, and I'll explain later just give the phone to Da-"

"_Leo, who's on the phone?"_ A female voice said on the other line.

"_It's Sam."_

"No don't tell her! Give th-"

"_Sam? Leo give me the phone now!"_

"No don't-"

"_Here you go."_

"Leo!"

"_Sam?"_ Sam sighed.

"Yea?" There was another pause, and Sam held the phone 'bout a foot away from her ear. I was 'bout to ask her why, but apparently I didn't need to.

"_WHAT THE FUCK SAM?! YOU GO MISSING FOR NEARLY FOUR DAYS AND THEN CALL LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED?! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! JESUS CHRIST SAM WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM? YOU BETTER NOT BE CALLING FROM JAIL!" _The girl screamed into the phone, nearly popping my ear drums. I guess the gang felt the same way because they were all rubbing they're ears. Sam put the phone back to her ear.

"Listen here Valerie! I don't have fucking time to explain to ya what happened but I am certainly NOT in jail! I already asked to give the phone to David, now I'm telling you, GIVE THE FUCKING PHONE TO DAVID NOW!" Sam said, screaming the last part.

"_Um, yeah Sam just a sec."_ The girl, Valerie said and the line went quiet for a minute. Sam looked back at us, shock written on our faces from her swearing. She mouthed an apology and turned back to the phone. This time, when someone started talking we couldn't hear them.

"David?...Hey I just….I-I was r-raped David…..Yeah them…..Yeah I'm fine….What no you can't-….C'mon David you-…..David seriously-…..Please Da-….Fine!" Sam turned to Darry. **(A/N: just to clear things up the periods in-between where Sam was talking is when David was talking back and it's like that because the gang can't hear what he's saying.)**

"What's your address?"

"Huh?"

"What's your address?" She repeated.

"Uh 1049 E. Western." Darry replied. **(A/N: idk what their real address is so that's made up)** Sam repeated the address into the phone, said bye, and hung up. She trudged over back to me and Steve and lay down, with her head in Steve's lap and her legs draped on my lap. I was slightly jealous of Steve, but I let it go.

"Why'd you need our address?" Darry asked.

"'Cause my gangs comin' over to check on me." She said.

"They're coming here?!" Two-bit asked. She nodded.

"Yee-haa!" Two-bit shouted, sounding like a country boy.

"No not yee-haa my gang ain't kind to strangers and aren't the most understand people, especially with Dallas."

"Ah shoot do ya really think they'll remember him?" Two-bit asked.

"It was a month ago genius."

"Oh."

"Aw its okay Sammy we'll protect him." Steve said, patting her head.

"S'not gonna make a difference."

"Oh cheer up will ya." Dally said.

"Shut up Dallas." Dallas just rolled his eyes.

"Sam can I ask ya something?" Johnny asked.

"Sure shoot."

"You said earlier that ya ran away from home, why?" Sam froze.

"Um Johnny maybe we should just leave that subject alone." Darry said.

"N-no it's okay, just caught me off guard is all," Sam said, "Well 'bout eight months before I ran, my mother died, and my father blamed me for it. My dad was a drunk; he got fired from his job forcing my mom to practically work all day. My father turned to alcohol after that and started beating me, but after my mother died, it got worse. One day he took it too far, and I couldn't deal with it anymore, so I ran away, haven't been back since." The room got quiet.

"W-wow Sam, I'm so sorry." I said.

"S'okay, wasn't like it was your fault or anything." I was about to say more when we heard the roar of a motorcycle outside. Sam sighed.

"Shit." Sam got up.

"What?" Steve asked.

"There was only one motorcycle, which means its only one person coming."

"Who?" Just then, we heard footsteps coming up to the house and a knock on our door.

"You guys gonna open up or do I have to open it myself?" A female voice said.

*Steve's POV*

Darry got up and opened the door to a girl 'bout fourteen standing there. My heart stopped. She was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.

She had long pin straight black hair reaching to her butt, had perfect porcelain skin, a thin body with curves in the right places, high cheek bones, and the most beautiful eyes. Her eyes were an electric blue. She had long full eyelashes and soft pink lips.

She was slightly shorter than Sam. She was wearing jean shorts with a white tank top and a jean jacket with the sleeves cut off, and had on tennis shoes. She wasn't wearing any make up but she didn't need it. All I could do was stare.

She scanned the room, landing her eyes on Sam, who was now in the middle of the room.

"SAM!" She screamed, and ran over and tackled her in a hug, which Sam returned.

"Oh God Sam don't ever do that again! I thought you were jailed or something. You had us worried sick!" She said.

"I know I know I'm sorry but I'm fine see. These guys have been taking care of me." When Sam said that, she let go of Sam and turned to face the guys.

"Who was the one who found Sam?" She asked.

"I did." Soda said, standing up. Just then she ran over and tackled Soda in a hug as well.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Soda returned the hug and Sam smiled.

"No problem." She let go and held out her hand to Soda.

"By the way, I'm Valerie." Soda took her hand and she shook it.

"Sodapop." Valerie raised her eyebrow.

"Cute name." She said, letting go. She turned to Sam.

"Well are you just gonna stand there or are ya gonna introduce me to these fine young men?" Everyone smiled at that.

"Sorry, this is Darry, Two-bit, Steve, Ponyboy, Johnny, and-"

"Dallas." Valerie growled.

"Wait Val-"

"You bastard!" Valerie yelled and lunged at Dally. Sam caught her just in time.

"A little help here?" Sam asked, struggling to keep Valerie away from Dallas. I walked over and took Valerie from Sam.

"Val, calm down, I'm not letting Steve let you go until you can promise me ya won't hurt Dally."

"But-"

"Shayne." Sam said sternly. Valerie huffed.

"Fine." Sam looked at me and I let her go. She looked at me.

"You dig okay." I smirked at her.

"Hey wait a minute Sam; didn't ya say there was eight of you?"

"I did, Val, where are the others?"

"They'll be here I a bit, there taking care of some business, no sweat." Valerie said, and Sam rolled her eyes.

"They don't have to ya know."

"'Course they do Sam they deserve what they're gonna get."

"Ya know what their doin'?" Two-bit asked.

"Yea."

"Well what are they doin'?" I asked.

"Finding the bastards who did that to her." Valerie said, pointing to Sam. She looked down. Valerie noticed and walked over to her.

"So it's true? You were raped?" She asked, and Sam nodded. Valerie hugged her.

"Oh God Sam, I'm so sorry." Sam returned the hug and nodded.

"S'okay."

"Can ya at least tell me what happened?" Sam winced, but nodded. Sam sat down in between me and Soda while Valerie sat on the floor in front of her.

"S-Soda, can ya tell her what happened from when you came in? I-I'm just not ready..." She stopped, but she didn't need to finish. She wasn't ready to relive what happened. I put an arm around her and she gave me a small smile.

Soda nodded and re-told the story to Valerie. When he was finished, she had tears in her eyes and jumped up and hugged Soda again.

"T-thank you s-so much for savin' Sam." Soda hugged her back.

"No problem." Valerie pulled back to reveal that the tears had made their way down her face. Before she could say anything, we heard the roar of several car engines from outside. Valerie's face lit up.

"They're here."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot and Sam and my other OC's, not the Outsiders**

*Still two years ago*Soda's POV*

Five seconds later we heard car doors open and then close, and footsteps up the stairs right outside the door. Then a pounding on the door.

"Is anyone home?" A rough mean voice said.

"Darry, open the door." Sam said, and Darry nodded and opened the door. A man slightly taller than Darry stood at the doorway with five guys behind him. The man in front of Darry had black greased back hair, kicking out in the back and curling behind his ears.

He had hard, mean electric blue eyes that looked dangerous. He wore a white shirt and a black leather biker's jacket, with slightly worn jeans and black combat boot. Darry stood out of the way as he made his way in, the other guys close behind them. When Darry closed the door, a silence filled the air.

"David!" Valerie said, and ran over and gave him a hug, he surprisingly-to our gang-returned.

"Hey, where's Sam?" David asked, and Valerie let go and looked over at Sam. David followed her gaze and his eyes landed on Sam.

"Sam…c'mere." He said, and held out his arms, and Sam ran over to him and threw his arms around him, burying her face into his massive chest.

"Oh God David, I'm so s-so sorry." She whispered. David wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Shh its okay baby, there's nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one who should be sorry; I shouldn't of let this happened to you." He said, rubbing her back. She shook her head.

"No it's not your fault Dav."

"And it's not yours either." He said, and she laughed, causing David and his gang to smile. She let go and hugged the others.

"How rude of me. Guys this is David, Leo, Jack, Will, Jake and Brandon." Sam said as she pointed to each of them.

Leo had chocolate brown hair that was slightly greased, with grey eyes and a pointed nose. He wore a white shirt and a jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, with jeans and tennis shoes. Jack had a mop of dirty blond, slightly gold hair that hung on his forehead and dark blue-green eyes. He wore a black tight shirt with the sleeves cut off, jeans and tennis shoes.

Will had greased black hair and green eyes, wearing a tight white shirt and a black leather jacket and black boots. Jake had brown greased hair and brown eyes, with freckles across his nose and cheeks, and wore a black shirt and a jean jacket, with jeans and black boots. And Brandon had greased blonde hair and hazel eyes, with a white shirt on and jeans, with tennis shoes.

All these guys had big build and were all undeniably handsome, yet all looked hard and mean. It's like they could kill you with one look from their cold eyes, and yet, when they hugged and were around Sam, their scary appearance changed, looking like regular teenage guys. Valerie also seemed to have that effect on them.

"And guys, this is Darry, Sodapop, Steve, Two-bit, Ponyboy, Johnny and-"

"Dallas Winston." Leo said dangerously cold. Dally smirked at them.

"Miss me?" Their gang all glared at him. Jack walked right up to him, grabbed him by the collar, and pushed him against the wall. Dallas tried to look calm, but some of his nervousness slipped out in his eyes.

"Touch Sam once, and I'll personally escort you to ER along with my gang, ya dig?" He threatened, and Dally nodded, and he let go.

"So Sam, which one of these boys saved you?" David asked.

"Soda did." She said, pointing to me. David looked at me and walked over to me and looked me hard in the eyes. I shrunk back a bit and gulped. Then David did something that I wasn't expecting, he smiled at me, and patted me on the back.

"Ya dig okay kid, and me and my gang owe you and your gang, big time." He said, and I smiled at him.

"Thanks." I said, and he nodded at me. David turned to Sam.

"Can I talk to you for a minute Sam?" She nodded, and led him outside, along with the rest of their gang, except for Valerie.

"Aren't you going out with them?" I asked. She then gave me a funny look.

"No, David wants to talk to her alone."

"So then why did the rest of your gang follow him?" Darry asked.

"They're going back to their cars and bikes. But I don't wanna leave yet."

"Oh is that so?" Steve asked with a smirk. She smirked back at him.

"Yea, what's it to you?"

"Nothing doll, just wondering." Just the Sam came back in. Valerie got up.

"So?" Valerie asked.

"Dav is letting me stay 'til I get better." Valerie smiled at her.

"Good." She walked over to her and hugged her, whispering something in her ear, causing Sam to laugh.

"Yeah I hope so." Sam said. Val let her go and waved at us.

"Now I'm leaving."

"Good riddance." Steve said jokingly, and she just glared at him and left. Sam sat down and the rest of the gang got comfortable, sitting in our current positions. After a while, Darry spoke up.

"Sam? What's that on your cheek?"

"What do ya mean?" She asked, and touched her cheek then looked at it. It had blood on it. The blood was coming from the bandage under her left eye.

"Damn, that hasn't stopped bleeding since you got here." Darry said, and walked over to Sam and carefully removed the band aid covering it. As soon it was off, it started gushing more blood. Sam hissed and covered it with her hand.

"Sam, move your hand, I need to see it." Darry said.

"No, its okay, I'll look at it." She said her voice strained. She got up, and walked to the bathroom. After a minute she came back.

"Darry, how well did you look at it?" Sam asked, holding a towel on the cut.

"I couldn't really because of the blood." Darry said. Sam walked over to him and removed the cloth, most of the blood wiped off, only to have more seeping out. Darry took a closer look at and swore.

"Dammit." He said.

"Exactly." Sam said.

"What?" Two-bit asked.

"It needs stitches." Darry said.

"Do you guys have the wire and needle?" Sam asked.

"Yeah but-"

"I know how to do it, I can do it Darry."

"You've done it on your face before?"

"Well no, but I've done it on my thigh, it can't be any different." She said.

"It is, it'll hurt more."

"S'not the worse I've been through." She said and looked down. Darry's face softened.

"I'll do it, Pony, can you get it?" Pony nodded and left.

"No its okay, just give me a mirror Darry, I can do it."

"Sam I'm not letting you do it."

"Then I'll just bleed to death." She said. Pony came back with the wire and needle. Darry shook his head.

"God you're more stubborn than Soda." He said, taking the wire and needle from Pony and giving it to her. She smiled.

"Thanks, now I just need a mirror." She said. Darry left, and brought a mirror.

"Um that's too big for me to hold."

"That's 'cause you're not holding it, I am." Darry said, sitting down on the couch and holding out the mirror in front of him.

"Fine." Sam said, and sat in front of it, and took out a long piece of wire. She then started to put it through the needle, but she was having a lot of trouble.

"Here let me do it." Steve said, walking to her.

"No it's okay I got it." And with a couple more tries, she still couldn't get it. Steve then took it from her and got it on one try. She glared at him and took it. She held if in front of her face, looking at the mirror, but her hand was trembling too much to get it.

"For Christ's sake your hands shaking worse than a leaf." Darry said, laying the mirror next to him and taking the needle from her.

"C'mere." He said. Sam sighed, but listened, and got closer to him. Darry grabbed her chin to hold in place, and dug the needle into the cut. She winced and bit her lip, hard, and balled her fists so hard her knuckles where turning her white. Darry stopped.

"Does it hurt?" Darry asked.

"N-no, just keep g-going." She said. Darry looked at her, but continued anyway. Half way through it, it seemed Sam couldn't hold it in anymore and started whimpering, but tried to stop it.

"Here," Steve said, sitting down next to her and held out his hand, "Hold onto my hand and squeeze it when it hurts."

"O-okay." Sam said, and grabbed his hand and started squeezing it automatically. When Darry tugged at the knot, she whimpered again and squeezed his hand harder. Steve grunted a bit, and Sam closed her eyes.

"There, I'm done." Darry said, taking a pair of scissors and snipping off the extra wire. Sam exhaled loudly and let go of Steve's hand to put her head in her own. Steve patted her back.

"Sam," Two-bit said, "You can look up, we don't care if you cry-"

"I'm not crying." Sam said, her head snapping up to show that she was indeed, not crying.

"Why?"

"Why not?" She said back. Two-bit laughed, causing us to laugh.

"You're one tough doll Sam."

"I told you not to call me that!" She said. Two-bit just shrugged his shoulders. Sam then looked at the time.

"Well, I'm tired, night guys." She said, smiling at us, than left to my old room.

"Night." We called back. Eventually, everyone left, leaving me and Pony watching TV and Darry reading the newspaper. After a while, Darry left to go to bed, and so did Pony. It's been a little too hot for us to sleep together the past couple days, so I sleep on the couch.

It was now 1 a.m. but I just couldn't go to sleep. I kept thinking 'bout Sam and that night in the alley, thinking of what would have happened if I had gotten to her sooner. Around 2, I heard a door open, and thinking it was Darry, I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep.

I heard soft footsteps make their way toward to me. They sounded to light to be Darry though, so who was it? Probably Pony. My thoughts were interrupted when a hand fell on my shoulder, shaking me.

"Soda? Soda wake up." The voice said. I opened my eyes slowly and looked straight into a pair of really pretty green eyes. Sam.

"Soda you awake?" She whispered.

"Yeah, I'm up."

"Umm…" Sam said, and I looked up to her to see her looking at the ground, twirling a lock of her hair. She was wearing one of Darry's old football shirts. No sweatpants or socks. The shirt came up to the middle of her thigh. Guess it was too hot for her to wear pants.

When she still hadn't said anything, I spoke up.

"Something wrong Sam?" She looked up at me.

"Um, n-no not really. Um well see, I-I can't really sleep…I keep dreaming of the n-night in the ally…and I was wondering...well this is going to sound silly, but c-can I maybe sleep w-with you?" She asked softly. I smiled at her.

"Of course you can Sam, and it's not silly at all." She looked up at me and smiled.

"Thank you." She said, and I scooted over the best I can on the couch to make room for her. She lied down next to me, her body pressed against mine-since there wasn't much room-and I lay the blanket on the both of us.

She snuggled closer to me and laid her head on my chest, then looked up at me.

"Why are you staring at me like that Soda?"She asked, and I then noticed I had been staring at her for a while.

"Sorry, just thinking. You cold Sam?" she nodded and I wrapped my arms around her, trying not to blush. But she did, and smiled.

"Thanks." She said and she yawned, making me yawn, and she giggled.

"Sorry." She said and I smiled at her.

"Night Soda."

"Night Sam." And I then heard her soft breathing. She fell asleep. I looked at her face, my eyes lingering on her stitches. Darry needed to put six stitches, and they're no doubt going to leave a small scar.

I looked at her face again. And I couldn't help but smile at how beautiful she was. The bruise on her right eye faded a bit, but was still noticeable. I swear if I ever saw those soc's again, there gonna need to visit a hospital. I yawned again, and with one last look at Sam, I let sleep take over me.

*Two years later* **(time of the book)**

I still remember that like it was yesterday. But it wasn't. It was two years ago. Sam eventually healed, and it turns out, David didn't let his gang live with him and Valerie, and Sam didn't have a home. So Darry let her live with us, and she's been living with us since. Sam wouldn't stay unless she helped with the bills, and after an argument between her and Darry, he finally caved.

So every week she gives him money, from where, she has yet to tell us and its bugging Darry something awful, but Sam says not to worry about it. Over the two years, my feelings for Sam have grown, and I'm pretty sure I'm in love with her.

I have no idea if she likes me back, and I'm not gonna tell her. Me and Sam are best friends, we do everything together and tell each other everything-well, 'cept for that. And I can't ruin it like that. And she and Steve are best friends too. But it's something more than that. They act like their family. They have that brother-sister relationship. Like me and Pony.

Speaking of Steve, he and Valerie have been dating for a year now. Shocking, right? We couldn't believe it either, but they love each other something awful. It was nice to see Steve in a relationship with Val like that. He seemed a bit happier since they first went out.

And I remember Steve going on and on at the DX on how she was the one. They didn't even fight that often. And when they did, they automatically made up. They could never stay mad at each other. I couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Why can't I have someone like that?

To keep my mind off of Sam, I went out with girls. I was currently in a relationship with this girl named Sandy. She was real pretty, with her China-blue eyes and long blonde hair, but she wasn't as pretty as Sam, though I would never tell her that.

We'd been going on strong for about five month, and it would it be our six month anniversary in a week. I remember telling the gang about it and Sam said I had to do something real special. She said girls took their six month anniversary seriously.

Whatever. I'll just take her out to a nice dinner and get her a necklace. I was thinking about it, where I was going to take her, while I hung out in my living room with the gang, minus Pony and Dallas.

Pony was at the movies or something and Dally was in jail. We were watching Mickey Mouse. Two-bit was sitting on the couch with Johnny drinking a beer; Darry was in the arm chair reading the newspaper, Steve, Sam and me where on the other couch. Sam had her head in my lap and her legs on Steve's lap.

Steve every now and then tickled her feet, and Sam would laugh and kick at him, causing me to laugh. This time, though, Sam accidently kicked him in the balls, and Steve yelped and fell off the couch with a groan, causing all of us to burst out laughing.

"That's it, c'mere!" Steve yelled, recovering from his injury and tackling Sam to the ground, and they started to wrestle. That's when we heard someone yell.

"Soda! Darry!-" We all froze. God please don't tell me who I think it is. Darry threw down his newspaper and stood up.

"Dammit guys that's Pony!" He shouted, and we all got up and ran out of the house, following the sound of the screaming. We passed the lot and saw them. There was about five of them, one was sitting on his chest, and the others were holding them down.

What the hell do they think they're doing to my baby brother?! I swear to God they better hope I don't get my hands on one of them, for their sake. Especially the one on his chest. I saw something glint in the sun that the soc held against Pony's neck.

We quickly ran over to them and chased them away. Darry stayed by Pony and Johnny was hiding a bit back. Ever since he was jumped, we've been careful with him. Once we got to their car, Dally joined us from out of nowhere.

We started throwing punches at them, and when they started driving away, Sam took a large rock and threw it at them, and we all did the same. Once they were gone, we made our way back to Pony and Darry and Johnny made his way back too.

When we got to them, Darry was standing in front of Pony, talking to him with his fists jammed in his pockets, while Pony was sitting on the curb rubbing his cheek. I crouched down in front of him and started examining him, holding his chin. It was then I noticed the cut on his throat.

"You got cut up a little, huh, Ponyboy?" I asked, letting go of his chin. He looked at me blankly.

"I did?" He asked. I pulled out the handkerchief I keep in my back pocket, wet the end of it with my tongue, and gently pressed it to the side of his head.

"You're bleeding like a stuck pig."

"I am?"

"Look!" I then showed him the handkerchief that was now red from his blood, "Did they pull a blade on you?" He looked deep in thought for a bit.

"Yeah." I looked at him closer, not believing him, and he quickly looked away. He was shaking like a leaf. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Easy, Ponyboy. They ain't gonna hurt you no more."

"I know." He said. It looked like he was crying. To prove my point, he wiped his cheeks, frustrated. "I'm just a little spooked, that's all." He took a deep breath, his voice shaking a bit. I rubbed his hair.

"You're an okay kid, Pony." I smiled at him, and he grinned back at me.

"You're crazy, Soda, out of your mind." Pony said. Darry looked at us funny.

"You're both nuts." He said, and I cocked my eyebrow at him, something I picked up from Two-bit.

"Seems to run in the family." I teased him. He looked at me for a second, than grinned. I like teasing my older brother. No one else does it, 'cept Two-bit from time to time when he's really drunk, 'cause there scared of him. I'm not, so I like to show it. Pony then wiped his eyes.

"Didya catch 'em?" He asked.

"Nup. They got away this time, the dirty…" Two-bit said, cursing them out.

"The kids okay?"

"I'm okay," Pony said, "I didn't know you were out of the cooler yet, Dally."

"Neither did we." Sam said, and smirked when Dally glared at her.

"Good behavior. Got off early." He said, still glaring at Sam. Dally lit a cigarette and handed it to Johnny. We all then sat on the curb next to Pony. Two-bit then cocked an eyebrow at Pony.

"Nice-looking bruise you got there kid." He said. Pony touched his cheek.

"Really?" Two-bit nodded.

"Nice cut, too. Makes you look tough." He said. Steve then flicked his ashes at Pony.

"What were you doin', walking by your lonesome?" He asked, and Sam punched his shoulder.

"I was comin' home from the movies. I didn't think…"

"You don't ever think," Darry cut him off, "not at home or anywhere when it counts. You must think at school, with all those good grades you bring home, and you've always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense? No sirree, bub. And if you did have to go by yourself, you should have carried a blade." Pony just looked down. Sam was glaring at Darry, but he didn't seem to notice. But he did notice me glaring at him.

"Leave my kid brother alone, you hear? It ain't his fault he likes to go to the movies, and it ain't his fault the Soc's like to jump us, and if he had been carrying a blade it would have been a good excuse to cut him to ribbons." I said. I never liked it when Darry got mad at Pony.

"When I want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid brother, I'll ask, kid brother." And he lay off Pony.

"Next time, get one of us to go with you, Ponyboy," Two-bit said, "Any of us will."

"Yeah, if your sober enough Two-bit." Sam said with a wicked grin, making everyone laugh and Two-bit glare.

"Ah hell no you didn't." He said, and he tackled her, making us laugh harder. He stood up, quickly picking up Sam with him, and swung her over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes. She yelped, and started pounding on his back.

"Let go of me you crazy drunk!" She said, giggling, still hitting his back.

"Oh now you're in for it doll." He said, and raced off to the house, Sam screaming and laughing, making us practically roll on the street from laughter. When they were out of sight, and we finally calmed down, we made our way back to the house after them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Outsiders-not mine**

*Soda's POV*

On the way back, Dally invited us to the movies. Me and Steve had to pass cause we were taking our girls out, and Sam would be "third-wheeling" it with us, as she called it. Darry had to work, so only Johnny and Pony would be going with him.

When we entered the house, Sam and Two-bit were on the floor, wrestling. They were pretty evenly matched, surprisingly. We all learned the hard way that Sam is a lot stronger than she looks.

She still can't beat Darry, but she swings a mean punch. Darry went to his room-probably to pay bills or something-, Pony and Johnny went to me and Pony's room, and Dally went to the kitchen.

"I got ten on Sam." Steve said.

"You're on; Two-bit's got this." I said, shaking Steve's hand. Ten minutes later, Two-bit pinned Sam on the floor and was hollering at her to call uncle. Sam being Sam, she didn't cave. While Two-bit was too busy yelling at her, she extended her leg, brushed her foot on the TV remote, and-with her big toe-turned the TV on, blaring with the Mickey Mouse theme song.

Two-bit immediately loosened his grip and stared at the TV as Mickey Mouse started. And that was all she needed to flip him over, face slapped on the floor with a loud _SMACK, _arm twisted behind his back.

"Say it! Say uncle!" Sam yelled.

"Never!" Two-bit said, and Sam pushed his arm up, and a loud _pop _sounded the air along with Two-bit's sharp inhale.

"Alright alright! Uncle Uncle! Now let go of my arm before you dislocate it!" Two-bit shouted, and Sam let go, retreating to the couch while Two-bit got up, rubbing his arm and left to the kitchen.

"Pay up." Steve said, holding out his hand.

"Yeah yeah." I said, taking a ten out and handing it to him. He smirked and joined Sam on the couch while I took the other couch.

"You missy owe me ten bucks." I said to Sam. She laughed and stuck her tongue out at me. A couple minutes later, Two-bit and Dally left. Ten minutes later, the phone rang. After three rings, I realized no one was going to get it.

"Alright fine I'll get it." I said, and got up and answered the phone while Steve and Sam snickered behind me.

"Hello?"

"_Sodapop?" _

"Yeah?"

"_It's Sandy."_ Sandy?

"Oh hey, uh what's up?"

"_Look I'm going to have to take a rain check on the double date tomorrow."_

"What, why?"

"_Family thing, I have to take care of my little brother because my parents will both be working."_

"Then why can't you just hire a babysitter?"

"_Already tried. I'm sorry honey, maybe some other time?" _I sighed.

"Alright."

"_Alright honey, see you later."_

"Bye." I hung up and slumped on the couch. Steve and Sam looked over at me.

"Hey what's wrong buddy?" Steve asked.

"Who was it?" Sam asked.

"It was Sandy, she can't come tomorrow." I said. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Sam look away and bit her lip.

"Again? Isn't this the third time this week she's skipped?" Steve asked.

"Yeah."

"What was the excuse?"

"Family thing." Sam then looked down.

"That's the same excuse! That family's got problems." Steve said, and got up and went to the kitchen. I looked over at Sam. Why was she acting so weird?

*Sam's POV*

"Bye." Soda hung up and slumped on the couch. Me and Steve looked over at Soda.

"Hey what's wrong buddy?" Steve asked.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"It was Sandy, she can't come tomorrow." Soda said. _Shit._ I bit my lip and looked away.

"Again? Isn't this the third time this week she's skipped?" Steve asked.

"Yeah."

"What was the excuse?"

"Family thing." _Crap. Not again._ I then looked down. I can't say it. I wasn't sure.

"That's the same excuse! That family's got problems." Steve said, and got up and went to the kitchen. Soda looked over at me, raising his eyebrow. God it was so obvious! Why couldn't they see it?

A girl doesn't rain check a guy that many times with such a lame excuse unless-_No! I can't jump to conclusions like that._ Maybe her family is really messed up, like Steve said. _God stop lying to yourself Sam!_ _You know exactly what it is!_

I bit my lip harder. But what if I'm wrong? I can't do that to him. It would be so much easier if they saw it too! But maybe it's because I'm a girl, maybe that's why I see it better. That has to be it!

Just then Steve walked in with a beer and Soda averted his attention away from me. Thank God! If he stared at me any longer I would've snapped.

"How's about a game of poker?" Steve asked.

"Sure, I'll go get Pony and Johnny."

"What about Darry?" Soda asked.

"Oh please, it's 10 o'clock, he's probably already sleeping." I said, and got Pony and Johnny. For the next two hours, we played. Every now and then I sipped Steve's beer, and he ended up having to go get three more bottles, each time enough where I can glance at his cards.

Me and Johnny ended up winning the most money, and Steve was pissed, at me. No one can get mad at Johnny. After that, they went home, and me and Pony watched TV for 'bout another hour while Soda looked at car magazines.

After a while we all got tired and went to bed.

*The next day Soda's POV*

It's starting to get dark out as me, Sam, and Steve wait for Valerie to come to the house so we can leave. Darry was at work, Pony, Johnny, and Dally were out catching a movie and Two-bit's getting drunk somewhere.

Me and Steve are both wearing a pair of jeans and tennis shoes, and I have a white shirt on with a plaid one over it, and Steve's wearing his jean jacket with the sleeves cut off, and no shirt, exposing his torso.

Looking at his stomach, I think working on cars, lifting heavy stuff all the time has really paid off for him. I remember when my abs were more defined than his, but now his are more defined. Damn. I should really work out more.

Sam's wearing gray faded skinny jeans, black boots, and a black tank with her leather jacket.

"God what is taking Val so long?" Steve complained.

"I don't know, you tell me Steve, she's _your_ girlfriend." Sam said.

"How the hell should I know? I don't know what girls do to get ready. Tell me Sam, is it the stuffing your bra, or caking your face with make-up the one that delays you girls?" He asked, and then smirked. Sam punched his arm.

"I wouldn't know smartass. I don't do either. This," She said, pointing her face, "is make-up free. And this," She said, grabbing her boobs, "is all real and natural, no pads in the lining of the bra, no tissue's stuffed in it." She said.

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Sam then punched his arm again.

"I am _not_ flashing the two of yeah. You'll have to take me out to dinner before we get to that." She replied, and I burst out laughing.

"Alright alright, I give…where too?" He asked, waggling his eyebrow, and she just slapped him, causing all of us to laugh. When the laughter died down, Sam got up.

"I'm getting a drink, you two want anything?" She asked.

"Oh starting early I see?" Steve asked cocking his eyebrow. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm getting a _coke_, a just for that, I'm not bringing you anything. Want anything Soda?"

"Na, I'm good." And she went into the kitchen. Just then, the door opened and Valerie walked in.

"Hey guys." She said, and me and Steve stood up, me giving her a hug, and Steve giving her a kiss.

"Sam, Val's here." Steve yelled. Valerie was wearing white skinny jeans and a grey tank, with tennis shoes and her leather jacket with a pair of sunglasses on the top of her head and a purse on her shoulders. She also had make-up on. Well, she always wears make-up, but it's never a lot, but tonight, she had a little bit more on.

She had grey eye shadow with black eye liner and, mascara? I think that's what they call it. It's that stuff they put on their eyelashes. I'm pretty sure its mascara. Sam then walked in with a coke bottle in her hand.

"Sam!" Val squealed, and gave her a hug.

"Hey Val, you guys ready to go?"

"Yeah just let me-" I started, but was cut off.

"Whoa whoa wait, Sam, why aren't you wearing any make-up?" Val cut in. Sam shrugged.

"I don't know, didn't feel like I needed it."

"Of course you do honey, were going out! And you're single! All the more reason for you to wear it."

"What does wearing make-up have to do with her being single?" Steve asked.

"So she can attract more guys! Sam honey, you've been single for too long." Sam rolled her eyes.

"Alright fine, but you're doing it for me!" Sam said.

"Great! I got some new mascara and eye shadow that I think would look hot on you! Sandy can help me. Wait, where's Sandy?"

"She couldn't make it, family thing." I said, and Val looked at Sam, who bit her lip and looked away.

"Anyway," Val said, "c'mon, let's go to your room, you buys wait here okay?" She said, dragging Sam to her room. Steve waved them off.

"Take all the time you need. But hurry up!" Steve said, smirking. Val stuck her tongue out at him and Steve licked his lips. Val laughed and disappeared into Sam's room, Sam closing the door behind them.

Me and Steve waited ten minutes before they came out again, and both our mouths dropped. Sam had dark grey eye shadow, with black eye liner on both top and bottom eyelid and mascara with some lip gloss.

"Well?" She asked.

"She looks good right?" Valerie asked.

"Good? Sam, you look hot! You should look like that more often." Steve said, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist. Sam smiled.

"Thanks."

"Well, let's go!" Val said, and she and Steve left out the door, me and Sam following behind. We got into Steve's car, Steve in \the drivers street and Val in the passenger's seat and me and Sam took the back.

ooO0Ooo

Steve parked the car in a parking lot and we got out and headed across the street to a real popular bar 'round the Dingo. We went in, and were hit with the blaring music from the dance floor. Its rather small, but it digs okay.

We came to the bar and sat next to a small group of guys. They looked pretty hammered already. I'd say they were 'bout twenty.

"I'll have a shot." Sam said to the bar maid, and she nodded and went back to look for a glass. One of the guys sitting next to us looked us over.

"Now what's a young girl like you doing in a place like here ordering shots?" He asked, and his buddies snickered. Sam thought for a bit.

"Well, it's my sixteenth birthday and I've never been to a bar, so I felt a bit adventurous and wanted to come here. I hear the beer here is good." She said innocently. What was she doing? She turned sixteen months ago, and she's been to plenty of bars before.

I looked over at Steve and Val, who were smiling wildly, like they knew something I didn't. When Steve saw my confused face, he leaned in and whispered.

"Just go along with it." And leaned away. I looked at Val who just winked at me. The man and his buddies roared with laughter.

"Look kid, this ain't no place for you and your little friends. Besides, you wouldn't be able to hold down one bottle if you tried."

"Oh yeah? I bet I could beat you."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah!" he looked back at his buddies, who smiled and nodded their heads eagerly.

"Alright kid, how's 'bout we put a little wager on this?"

"Oh no! Don't do it Sam!" Val said.

"Yeah, you've never drank before!" Steve said. And then I finally got it.

"Yeah Sam don't do it your parents will kill you if you spend all your birthday money here!" I said.

"It's okay, I'll just find a way to make up the couple hundred bucks to them anyway, besides, I got this." She said, and the bar maid came back with a bottle of liquor and a shot glass.

"Honey, bring in more shot glasses, were having a little competition here." The guy said, and she rolled her eyes, and brought out a small brown table and set it in front of us, and came back with twenty shot glasses and four bottles of beer.

Other people saw what we were doing and huddled around as Sam and the guy sat across from each other, the bar maid filling up two shot glasses each.

"So how does this work?" Sam asked, and everyone snickered, pulling out their money and setting it on the table.

"Well, we each drink the shots and who ever drinks the most shots without passing out or puking, win all this loot." He said. She smiled.

"Easy enough." And they both gulped down a shot, the man setting the glass upside down, and Sam setting it back right side up, and everyone hollered, laughing.

"Sweety, when ya drink the shot, you're supposed to set it upside down." The man said. Sam let out an 'Oh' and did so, earning a few more snickers. After they finished fifteen shots, the man looked ready to fall out of his chair, and Sam sat there, arms crossed over her chest, smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"What's the matter? Can't hold down a few shots?" Sam asked cockily. The man shook his head vigorously.

"Noo, imma bea- ya." He slurred, pointing a finger at her, and picked up another shot.

"Rea-y?" He asked, hand shaking. Sam picked up another glass and they both swallowed another shot. The set the shot down at the same time.

"Jus gimme a minute darlin'." He said, gripping the table. Sam smiled cockily, and quickly drank the last four shots.

"Um excuse me? I think we're gonna need a couple more shots over here." Sam said, waving over the bar maid. Everyone around us had their jaws hanging open.

"Hey, how the hell are you still conscious?" One of the guy's buddies asked. Sam shrugged.

"Guess I'm a natural, unlike your friend here." She replied with a smirk.

"Now hol' on jus' a min', I ca' take fer more shots." The man, said, and gulped down two shots. He put the third shot to his mouth, and then he dropped the glass and fell out of his chair. His buddies quickly went to his side, and one of them cursed.

"Damn it, he's out."

"Woo!" Sam hollered, "Guess I win!" She said, and she high-fived the three of us.

"I believe all of this goes to you." Steve said, picking up the wads of cash on the table and handing it to Sam.

"Beginners luck." One of the guys said, and he and his buddies got up, and carried his buddy out the door. Everyone else was quiet for a sec, the broke out in cheers and hollers. They then told Sam what a good job she did then went back to their booths and their spots on the dance floor.

Steve then turned to me.

"So do you now get what Sam was doing?" He asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, I caught on, you were playing dumb so people would bet against you, so when you won, you would win all that dough." I said.

"At a boy." Steve said, and then dragged Val out onto the dance floor. Sam gathered up her money and stuffed it into her jacket pockets.

"C'mon Soda, lets drink a bit, my treat."

"Haven't you had enough?" I smirked at her.

"Of course not! And now that Sandy's not here, I got me a drinking buddy!" She said. I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, but not too much or Darry will ring our necks." I said, and Sam laughed, and looped her arm in mine and we made our way to the bar. We ended up having three bottles each, and since Sam had twenty shots before, she was hammered.

I was pretty drunk too, but not as much as Sam. Steve and Val joined us for a bit, but left and started making out in the back. And let me just say this, Sam acts like a dumb blonde when she's hammered.

When she talks, she makes no sense at all, and ends up laughing like a mad man. In all, she acts really funny when she's drunk. After a bit, she dragged me out to the dance floor and we danced straight for 'bout an hour. We were both dancin' real crazy, and singing along to the songs at the top of our lungs.

Steve and Val found us acting like complete idiots-mostly Sam- and dragged us over to the bar.

"God damn Soda why did you let Sam get this drunk?" Steve asked. I shrugged my shoulders, and me and Sam burst out laughing.

"Oh stop bein' such a party popper Stevie and have a little fun!" Sam said, or rather yelled, and started laughing again, causing me to laugh again. Steve rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, its late, we should get goin'." Sam cocked her eyebrow with a drunken smile on her face.

"Since when did you get sooo responsible?" She giggled.

"Since after you me and Two-bit went out drinking and I made the sorry mistake for letting you drive."

"So? It was fun driving that fast." She slurred.

"You almost ran us into a tree!" Steve yelled, and Sam dropped to the floor, holding her stomach laughing.

"Pick her up Soda." I brought my hand to my head and saluted.

"Sir yes sir."

"Oh not you too." Val giggled. I shrugged again.

"Hey I'm not as drunk as Sammy here." I said, picking up Sam from the ground and grabbed her waist to hold her up. She then wrapped her arm round my waist too, and leaned on me, resting her cheek on my shoulder.

We made our way to the parking lot, Sam hiccupping a lot and telling really weird jokes. We finally got to the car, and, just like before, Steve and Val went in front, and me and Sam climbed in back.

"Well that was fun." Val said as Steve started the car.

"Oh yeah, lots of fun!" Sam yelled and giggled, then looked at me.

"Have I ever told you how good you look Soda?" Sam asked. Val laughed, and so did Steve, and I smiled.

"Not that I recall…" I said.

"Well you do!" Sam said, then took off her seat belt, and laid her head in my lap, looking up at me.

"I mean, look at you! You can be a model! You've got the hair, the eyes, the face, and the muscles!" She yelled, poking my chest, then erupted in giggles. Val rolled her eyes at her.

"Hey! Stevie, you can become one too! And you to Valerie! You're both hot!" Sam exclaimed. They both laughed.

"Boy you sure are stoned, aren't ya Sammy?" Steve asked. Sam giggled.

'I'm not that drunk!" She pouted.

"Oh yes you are honey." Val said, and Sam pouted some more, but then laughed and held my hand up, studying it.

"Oh my gosh Soda your hand is huge!" She said. Turning it over.

"So?" I laughed.

"Look! It's bigger than my face!" She said, and put my hand on top of her face, and I felt her lip gloss smear on my palm. I laughed.

"It is!" and she laughed, and took my hand off m face. For the rest of the ride, she played with my fingers. We got to my house, and Val left on her motorcycle, and me and Steve both half-carried, half-dragged Sam up the steps and into the house.

"When we opened the door, Darry shot up from his place on his recliner, but when he saw it was us, he sighed.

"Oh it's just you guys."

"Oh and it's just you Darry, no one important." Sam said, and laughed. Darry cocked his eyebrow.

"Is she drunk?" He asked, angry. Me and Steve both let her go and shot up our hands in defense.

"It wasn't our fault!" We said, and Sam fell to the floor, face first.

"Damn it you guys, I've got no time for this!" Darry said, and picked Sam up who was giggling.

"Darry, there's something wrong with the floor, it's so hard!" Sam said, and laughed again. Darry rolled his eyes and handed me Sam.

"Have either of you seen Pony?"

"Wha? He's not here yet?" I slurred, and immediately slapped my hand on my mouth. Darry looked at me.

"You're drunk too!?"

"Not as much as Sam is!" Darry just sighed.

"No, he's not here, he hasn't been back since he left to the movies, and it's way past his curfew."

"What time is it?" Steve asked.

""It's 12."

"Oh, well, maybe he's still out with Dally and Johnny." I said, heading over to the couch and setting both me and Sam down.

"This late? Dally knows that I don't like Pony out this late."

"Well you know how Dally is, look, I'm sure he's fine, I'll stay up with you."

"No you need to go to bed."

"I wasn't asking your permission Dar." I said, and he sighed.

"Fine, Steve, are you stayin'?"

"Yeah I guess, my dad's gonna have a fit if I come home this late drunk." He said, lying down on the other couch and fell asleep. Thirty minutes later, Two-bit walks in with a beer in his hand. He doesn't even get the chance to say anything before he passes out on the living room floor, snoring loudly.

Sam ended up lying down, her head in my lap, and she was snoring softly as she slept.

"Man she's gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow morning." Darry said, turning the page in his newspaper.

"Yeah," I said, feeling my eyelids drooping and sleep take over me, "yeah she is." And I fell asleep.

_**Okay sorry guys for the wait, I've been super busy, so that's why I made this extra long, 11 pages! I'll check for errors later, so sorry for the mistakes. And now, since its 2 o'clock in the morning and since I have to get up early, goodnight! Enjoy and Review!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Disclaimer- The Outsider's are not mine, now on with the story!**

*Sodapop's POV*

"Where in the almighty universe were you?" I heard someone shout. I heard mumbling, then a loud,

"You what?" I realized I had fallen over, and sat up, with Sam still in my lap. When I sat up, I saw Ponyboy standing in front of Darry.

"Hey Ponyboy, where ya been?" I asked sleepily. He ignored me though.

"I didn't mean to. I was talking to Johnny and we both dropped off…" Pony said, and by this time, Sam sat up, yawning and stretching.

"Hey Pony." She said, her voice sounded hoarse and she looked a little pale. Perks of a hangover.

"I reckon it never occurred to you that your brothers might be worrying their heads off and afraid to call the police because something like that could get you two thrown in boys' home so quick it'd make your head spin. And you were asleep in the lot? Ponyboy, what on earth is the matter with you? Can't you use your head? You haven't even got a coat on." By this time, me and Sam were up, me next to Pony and Darry, and Sam behind Pony, and Steve and Two-bit were waking up, too. Pony looked mad.

"I said I didn't mean to…"

"I didn't mean to! I didn't think! I forgot! That's all I hear out of you! Can't you think of anything?" By now Steve and Two-bit were awake and watching. I couldn't take the fighting anymore.

"Darry…" I began, but Darry turned on me.

"You keep your trap shut! I'm sick and tired of hearin' you stick up for him." Sam, Steve, and Two-bit all froze, wide-eyed. My jaw almost dropped to the floor.

"You don't yell at him!" Pony shouted, and then Darry wheeled around and slapped Pony, causing him to crash into Sam and sending them flying backwards. When they fell, Sam's head hit the corner of the coffee table, and Pony ended up slamming into the door.

It was deathly quiet. Darry looked at his hand, shocked to see it red already, and looked up at Pony.

"Ponyboy…" He said, and Pony ran out of the house and down the street.

"Pony, I didn't mean to!" Darry yelled, and Pony was out of our sights. It was quiet again. Steve got up from the couch and went over to Sam. Her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip, holding her head. Steve helped her up, and she staggered a bit, blinking rapidly, and Steve held her tighter.

"Sam," Darry said, "I'm s-"

"Go." She said, still holding her head. Darry looked taken aback.

"What?" And she pointed upstairs.

"Into your room, and don't come out."

"But your-"

"Now." She demanded. Darry nodded and went upstairs. As soon as he was gone, me and Two-bit went to Sam.

"Sam, gosh are you alright?" I asked. She shrugged off Steve.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"I don't think so, you hit your head pretty hard on that table." Two-bit said.

"I'm fine, really." She said, and took a step forward, but stopped and clutched her head.

"God this is so not helping my hangover."

"Sam, what's that on your neck?" Steve asked. Sam looked confused and put her hand to her neck, and brought it back, fingers covered in blood.

"God your worse than I thought, Two-bit, go get the first aid-kit, Steve, help me get Sam on the couch." Two-bit and Steve nodded, Two-bit leaving and me and Steve helping Sam to the couch.

"Guys, m'fine, really." Sam said drowsily, eyes closed and hands on her head.

"No your not Sammy." Steve said, sitting next to her and grabbed her head to examine it. Two-bit got back and handed me the first aid-kit. I took out some cotton balls and rubbing alcohol, and Steve moved the hair away from the gash.

The gash was about two-inches long, maybe a little shorter, and didn't look to be too deep. The gash was behind Sam's right ear at the base of the hairline and was bleeding a lot. But it looked to be slowing down a bit.

I poured some of the alcohol on the cotton ball and lightly pressed it to her cut. She stiffened, but didn't move. When I was done, i wrapped some gauze around it and tapped it up.

"There, I'm done." I said, and Sam let out a sigh, and grabbed her head.

"Stevie, can ya get me some aspirin? My heads killing me." She asked, and Steve left, coming back a minute later with two aspirin in he's hand, and a bottle of coke in the other. he sat down next to her and handed her the pills and drink.

"Thanks." She mumbled, and swallowed the pills. Me and Two-bit then sat in front of Sam and Steve on the floor.

"What are we gonna do now?" Two-bit asked.

"We wait 'til morning." Sam said.

"What?! Sam, he's my brother and he's alone and it's freezing out there! You can't expect me to sit here and wait 'til morning!"I yelled. Sam just gripped her her harder.

"Ease up on the yelling will ya? And there's nothing we CAN do now, Pony needs time alone, and if anything, he's probably with Johnny at the lot. Pony may be absentminded, but he ain't stupid enough not to come home after this. If he ain't here in the morning, we'll look for him, ya dig?" Sam asked. I sighed, she was right.

"Yea, I dig."

"Good, now lets get to bed, the sooner we get to sleep, the sooner we can get up and solve this mess." Sam said. She got up and left to her room, while Two-bit and Steve made themselves comfortable on the couches.

"Night guys." I said.

"Night." They replied. I turned the lights off and headed to me and Pony's room. Once I closed the door, I changed out of my jeans, and put sweats on, taking off my shirt and laying in bed. It felt so weird to not have Pony sleeping next to me.

We've been sleeping in the same bed since mom and dad died. He would usually curl up next to me and I would drape my arm over his body. It feels strange, no, WRONG, not having Pony sleep next to me.

I hope he's alright, and that Sam was right, that he's in the lot with Johnny. My eyes start dropping, and i feel my self falling asleep.

ooO0Ooo

I woke up to knocking on the door. That's weird, people usually just walk right in. I then remembered the last time someone knocked on our door. I gulped. Darry had opened the door to two police officers, and they delivered the awful news, that our parents were in a crash on their way home and they hadn't made it.

I hope this time's different. I got up and walked out to the living room to see Sam already there, sitting on the couch where Steve slept, both he and Two-bit awake as well. Darry was just opening the door, and it was like de ja vu.

Two police officers at the door.

One was taller, looking about 40, and the other one looked about 25. The taller one looked down at the notepad he had, and spoke.

"Is this the residence of Darrel Curtis, Jr.?" Darry gulped.

"Yes, that's me." The cop nodded, and looked down at the note pad again.

"And you're the legal guardian of Ponyboy Curtis, yes?"

"Yes." The cop paused before speaking again.

"And where, exactly, is Ponyboy right now?" Darry looked over at us quickly before answering the cop.

"He's not home right now."

"When's the last tine you saw him?"

"Late last night, he left and hasn't been back since, why? What's going on?" The cop ignored Darry's question.

"And do you have any idea as to where he might be?"

"No, I don't, now what's going on?" He ignored the question again.

"And do you know a Jonathan Cade?"

"Yes."

"What's your relationship with Mr. Cade?"

"He's a good buddy of mine and Pony." He nodded and scribbled something down in his notebook, taking a moment before asking another question.

"When's the last time you saw Mr. Cade?"

"Not since yesterday afternoon, why? Are he and Pony in trouble?" The cops looked at each other for a brief moment.

"Ponyboy, no for now, we just want to ask him some questions. Mr. Cade on the other hand, is indeed in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"I'm sorry sir, we are not allowed to tell you that."

"What? Why?"

"It's a very sensitive subject, Mr. Curtis, and we are not authorized to tell you. Now, one last question, do you know a Mr. Bob Sheldon?"

"Bob? No, why? What does this have to do with my brother and Johnny?"

"Again, we are not allowed to tell you that. If you see either Ponyboy or Johnny,give me a call." The cop said, handing Darry a small card and turning around to his cop cruiser, the other cop right on his heels. Once they left and were out of sight, Darry closed the door and turned to us.

"What the hell was that about?" Two-bit asked. Darry just stared at the door.

"Darry?" I asked, and he turned, seeing all of us staring at him.

"I have know idea." He said. Two-bit turned on the TV.

"Damn it Two-bit this is no the time to watch Mickey Mouse." Darry scolded. Two-bit just shook his head with a rare serious expression on his face. He started to flip through the channels.

"M'not watching Mickey." He said, all of the humor gone from his voice.

"Then what are you…" Darry trailed off as Two-bit stopped on the news channel, "Two-bit its just the damn weather."

"Just wait." He said, staring at the TV. Then the weather man signed of, introducing one of the anchormen.

"And in other news this morning," Said the anchorman, "There was the murder of a young Bob Sheldon on the upper East side in Highland park late last night a little after 2am. Witness' say the suspect was dark-skinned, with jet black hair who looked between the ages of 14-16. Reports say he was wearing an old jean jacket and a pair of worn out jeans. Be on the look out for anyone with this description, and be careful, suspect is said to be carrying a six inch blade. Do not approach. Back to you Jo-" The TV went blank as Two-bit turned the channel off.

Everyone sat there, dumbfounded.

"You don't think Johnny and Pony were involved, do ya?" Sam asked.

"I don't know Sammy, that sounded a hell of a lot like Johnny." Steve said.

"Steve!" Two-bit scowled. Steve shrugged.

"What? I don't like it any more than you do, but the description does sound like Johnny, and that cop was looking for Johnny and Pony and asked Darry about that Bob kid." Steve said.

"But that doesn't sound like Johnny at all." Sam said.

"Yes it does." Steve said. Sam just shook her head.

"Okay yeah maybe the description part, but I'm talking about the other part, he's a suspect for murder, Johnny wouldn't kill someone, not our Johnny." Sam said and every took that in.

She's right. That doesn't sound like Johnny at all. He can barely raise his voice at someone, let alone kill somebody. It can't be Johnny, but then, where the hell is he and Pony?

"Darry?" I asked. Everyone turned to look at him. He just stood there, staring at the wall.

"Look Darry, if you're still upset about last night, we can work through-" Sam started, but Darry interrupted.

"Steve, Two-bit, you two take the upper east side of town, Sam and Soda, take the lower east side, I'll look at all of our hangouts and places either Johnny or Pony would go, and under no circumstances, do we go into soc territory, understood?" He asked.

No one answered.

"Understood?" He repeated, and we nodded, and we headed out the door. Darry took the truck, Steve and Two-bit took Two-bit's car, and Steve handed us the keys to his car. When we got in and I started the car, Sam spoke up.

"Lets check the park first." I nodded and headed to the park.

ooO0Ooo

When we got out of the car, we noticed that the fountain was taped off with police tape, there was a tarp covering some of the cement in front of the fountain, and the park was closed.

"Sam, maybe we shouldn't-"

"There aren't any policemen around and no security cameras, and with what happened I doubt anyone would be driving around here anytime soon." She started walking towards the yellow tape.

"Sam, stop." She turned.

"Don't ya want to know what happened to them?" She asked.

"Of course I do, but this isn't the way to do it. If we get caught, you can get jailed, and I can get sent to a boys home." I said. She sigh.

"Well lets just not get caught, okay?" And she walked under the yellow tape. I followed her. She stopped walking and stared down at the tarp.

"What do ya think there covering up?" She asked, looking over at me. Curiosity got the better of me.

"Well lets find out." I said, and she smiled at me and went to one end of the tarp while i went to the opposite. We looked up at each other, nodded, and lifted the tarp.

"Oh god…" Sam trailed off. On the cement was a big pool of dried up blood.

"You don't think it's Pony or Johnny's, do ya?" Sam asked me. I shook my head.

"It's got to be Bob's." She nodded at me and looked down at it again. I couldn't look at the blood anymore. I walked over and sat down on the ledge of the fountain. A few moments later, Sam sat beside me.

We sat in silence for a while. Thoughts kept running through my head. What happened? Why where Johnny and Pony in the park? Why didn't Pony come home? How does Bob figure into this? And what happened to get the police thinking that Johnny killed Bob? And where's Pony?

"I miss him." I said, breaking the silence. Sam looked at me.

"I know, and we'll find him, I promise." And she grabbed my hand and gave it a light squeeze. I looked a her and gave her a slight smile. I scooted loser to her and she leaned her head on m shoulder, still gripping my hand.

"I'm worried about Darry." Sam spoke up.

"Why would you be?" She paused before speaking again.

"Think about it. Put yourself in his shoes, what do you think is going on through his mind right now?" I thought about it and shook my head.

"He'd be worried about Pony and Johnny."

"No, he'd feel guilty."

"Why?"

"Think about it, if he hadn't lost his cool and not slapped Pony, sending him away, none of this would of happened." I thought about it.

She was right. If Darry hadn't exploded on Pony, if he hadn't hit him, he wouldn't of run away. He'd be home right now, probably going out for a run to practice for track season. Or in his room of the couch reading a book, laughing at Two-bit's jokes and fight's with Steve.

He'd do his homework so he can go out with us later. He'd walk with Johnny over to the DX to see me and Steve, ad Sam would probably tag along. His cheeks would go red when a girl flirted with him and mumble awkwardly. Girls didn't flirt with him often, but it was starting to happen a lot more.

If Darry hadn't slapped him, none of this would of happened, and we wouldn't be searching all over the East side of Tulsa looking for Pony.

If only he hadn't slapped him.


End file.
